Is it moral to hunt?

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Bookcat said:
Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Respect for the integrity of creation

2415 The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity.195 Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man’s dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.196

2416 Animals are God’s creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory.197 Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals.

2417 God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image.198 Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to help man in his work and leisure. Medical and scientific experimentation on animals is a morally acceptable practice if it remains within reasonable limits and contributes to caring for or saving human lives.

2418 It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.
Hunting can be a legit way for example to obtain such food and clothing…

*though I do not hunt (though I did when I was a kid once or so…)

I am more the kind who finds wounded animals and takes them to those who nurse them back to health…
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What you now do is great, helping God’s creatures.
 
Robert_in_SD said:
Thanks. I appreciate your response, and I respect your point of view. As someone who grew up hunting upland birds, I agree that you should eat what you take, and I believe that one comes to harbor a deep and abiding respect for God’s creation by doing so. You see humanity’s place in the envirnonment much more clearly than when you buy a chicken wrapped in cellophane.

Just look at all of the groups that work to preserve wetlands and other natural terrains and many, if not most, of the really effective groups are made up of outdoor enthusiasts who also hunt and/or fish. Plus, having spent time with hunters and fishers of both gender, I think it is the rare person in that crowd that hunts because they like to kill animals. From my own experience, I can’t think of a hunter I know that doesn’t have a great deal of respect for nature - and in particular the animal that they hunt.

That being said, my follow-up to the above is… given the abundance of commercially prepared meat available in our modern Western civilization, is it still moral to hunt, or should we be buying pheasant, duck, venison, elk and other game animal meats at specialty butcher shops?

Peace,
Robert
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.

Thank you.

I gather Native Indians thanked the animals they killed for their sacrifice in providing them with food. I do know of some who hunt for the thrill, they do not eat the meat and those who take the meat do not need it.

On your last paragraph, I am not sure how game animals are killed in the US but what happens in abbatoirs is not pleasant. If anyone wants to kill an animal for food, at least do it humanely
 
Hunting can give modern man a tie back to the land, the woodland air, the thrill of the hunt, cleaning animals out.

If you are going to hunt, the meat should be consumed, venison steak is delicious so I don’t see a difficulty with that
 
Personally I think its wrong in this day and age when you can buy all the food you need at a store.But thats just me.There are probably justafiable reasons to hunt though.
 
valentino said:
Personally I think its wrong in this day and age when you can buy all the food you need at a store.But thats just me.There are probably justafiable reasons to hunt though.
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Do you realize how incredibly inhumane slaughterhouses are? It’s more humane to hunt an animal.
 
valentino said:
No.Tell me about them.What animals do you hunt that use slaughterhouses?
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You misinterpreted me what I was trying to say. There is less suffering to an animal that is hunted than to an animal raised in a factory (they aren’t really farms anymore).

Of course from an ethical and food safety POV meat from a small farm is best.
 
Dakota_Roberts said:
You misinterpreted me what I was trying to say. There is less suffering to an animal that is hunted than to an animal raised in a factory (they aren’t really farms anymore).

Of course from an ethical and food safety POV meat from a small farm is best.
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Most animals you hunt probably can’t be bought at a store near you anyway.Im aware of how they raise animals.yes its seems inhumane.Anyway I think hunting is fine although sometimes you wound an animal and it gets away.Its a matter of opinion to me.One can make a case either way I guess.Im not a hunter.That’s also a very good point which you made about factory raised animals.They often have hormones injected and other things as well done to them.They are as healthy as a lot of wild animals.
 
From CCC

Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing.
 
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